New Garmin Astro (Review)

[PREACHERS,KENNEL]

well i like it and all but i dont think it would make a good trial thing right now .. if u could get a tv camera to hover above them and let it chase them and watch it from the casting area that would be sweet lol!but does that mena we have to haul around a big screen so all could see wiothouit pushing and shoveing .. hhmm.. also it would need to have replay capablities whlie we are dreaming lol! ...

[steve w]

Here's a great link to the Astro to help understand what the system is capable of, just click on the link below. Then the dog on the screen and then the different subjects to see film clips or other information. http://www8.garmin.com/astro/

[sgc]

This would work great for Fox trials by putting a collar on the fox, too. Sit back in the club house and judge from there. If you didn't know which dog was wearing which collar (just dog #1, #2, etc.) there wouldn't be any bias either. When you picked them up you'd know which one won. Wouldn't it be cool sitting & watching in the club house on a big screen.

[T LEE]

Enjoyed the link

Very good info.

[Chief Long Hair]

Apparently these collars are allowed in an AKC "BEAGLE" field trial. AKC limits the use of all tracking collars only on the "POINTING" breeds. According to the rule book for beagle field trials, it's up to the judges' whether the hounds are allowed to wear a collar. If so, the handler must leave the receiver behind and not on his or her person.

I was told by 2 people who were at the Great Miami's fall trial last weekend that a dog in the 13" male class was wearing one. One of the guys is an AKC judge with about 20 years experience. He was running his dog in this class. He saw no problem with a dog wearing one as long as the receiver was in the truck. He did get to see it in action as well and said he will own one as soon as he can find the money for it.

Da Chief

[Boomerx]

I received my Garmin outfit yesterday and today I ran two beagles in my 100 acre fenced grounds with the collars on. The unit picked up the signal just fine (all day) and took me right to them when I wanted to catch them. I drove down the road 11 kms (maybe 6 miles) and still got the signal on one hound, but the other hound's signal cut off at about two miles (not sure why). One major problem is the collars are about 10" too long for a beagle (I ran two 14" males). There is nothing you can do with the extra length (no place to tuck it in). I didn't want to cut it right away as I thought of using it on Walker hounds to hunt coyotes this winter. Big mistake, as one collar came back with the end chewed off about 6" up and the entire collar is frayed and ruined. I guess that 10" hanging down was too much for the one young hound to resist chewing it. Or maybe even the hound wearing it chewed it. I phoned Garmin support and was told these collars are not suitable for beagles. They told me not to cut the collar to shorten it as the wire for the GPS unit runs through it. You can not buy a replacement collar (just the fabric part) You must buy the entire collar ($200). I certainly wish they'd mentioned this on any brochures or websites. I'll be selling my unit to a bear hunter (with bear hounds) and I'll wait till they make one for a beagle. Terry McBride

[Bryan]

Terry, I cut my collars to get rid of the extra length. The wire is between the antenna on top and the sending unit on the bottom. After you cut the collar, take a lighter or aim flame and burn the end to melt the collar so it won't fray. I do agree the collar needs to be able to go smaller for beagles. I will switch mine over to reflective collars for night running and seal the wire some way.

[Boomerx]

What worries me about cutting the collar is the Garmin rep told me that If I did, the collar would not be covered under any warantee. You'd think that it would be simple for Garmin to sell collars in maybe two sizes?

[deerhost]

Exactly right. The part that hangs loose has no wire in it. I cut it melted the end and stitched it with thread(a little over kill) never had a problem...Dh

[Boomerx]

Well I did as suggested (cut and burned), and I'll try them in a trial tomorrow (we can use tracking collars in Canada in all our trials). I saved the end of the good one in case I need to attach it again for use on a coyote hound this winter. Thanks for the advice.

[fasttrackpa]

I have been using the new collars since May, There is well over 200 hrs on my DC30's, I have been running them on beagles and coon hounds mostly and a couple of times on coyote dogs. They are frayed but not nearly as bad as those in the picture. You CAN get a new strap ("only") for them, it comes with a new antenna and wiring. They are around $50.00. We sell them at Lion Country Supply. There is NO warranty void if you cut the strap to fit beagles. Whoever you spoke to at Garmin is an idjit.

[Boomerx]

That's the trouble with a lot of Customer Service Reps, they don't know diddly about the product. For all I know, they work out of call centers in India or China? Anyway, I used the outfit at a LPH trial today and it was very impressive. Our trial was pretty short because the running was great and we only had 14 big males in the class,(only 3 hours) but it showed my hound traveled 11 1/2 miles during the run (he got 5th, so maybe if he'd have run 12 miles he might have placed higher . We could see exactly where the pack was when they went out of hearing (they were 880 yds away when we could no longer hear them) At the pickup at the end of the trial, I walked right to where my hound was and caught him. I didn't waste an extra step. Terry McBride

[TurnLeftBeagles]

Andy, were gonna have to get together some weekend when I go to my friends camp at Black Moshanon. I'd like to check them out first hand.

[fasttrackpa]

Adam, That would be great, I live about 10 miles from Black Mo' lake. Where is their camp? I am hunting deer pretty hard for the next month and a half and then it's all dogs for the rest of the year! I am real easy to contact, let me know!

[TurnLeftBeagles]

sent you a PM Andy